Back on practice field, Devin Hester ready to open preseason

BOURBONNAIS, Ill. – It’s nothing personal, but Devin Hester is sick of battling Charles Tillman, Zackary Bowman and the rest of the Bears cornerbacks every day in practice.

The game-breaking receiver is looking forward to Saturday night’s preseason opener in San Diego, especially because it provides the first chance to operate Mike Martz’s offense against an actual NFL opponent.

“I’m very eager,” Hester said. “We’re tired of going against the same guys every day, and I’m pretty sure they’re tired of going against us. I’m also very excited to see [the offense] work against other teams.”

Although learning Martz’s high-volume system hasn’t been easy, Hester feels that he has gained a strong grasp of the playbook.

“It’s all about repetition,” Hester said. “The more reps you get in practice, it makes a lot of things easier for you. That’s what we’ve been doing in OTAs, the offseason and training camp. It’s just constantly getting a lot of reps in and starting to pick up everything. We’re having fun with it.”

Hester returned to practice Tuesday after sitting out a few days with a sore groin. On a hot and humid night, he caught a Jay Cutler pass in the right corner of the end zone for a touchdown in a red-zone drill and later snared Cutler’s frozen rope over the middle in team work.
“We see something we like from Devin every time he’s on the field,” said coach Lovie Smith.

Hester was relieved to be back on the field after being forced to watch from the sideline.

“It just kind of built up,” he said of the injury. “I didn’t hurt it on any specific play. When you’re working hard, things like that happen. The coaches always say that if you don’t get hurt in training camp, then you’re not working hard enough. So I guess I’m working hard.”

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(chicagobears.com)